I hate to start off another blog post talking about how busy I am (I mean really…how dull), so I’ll just say this – don’t let me sign up for anything else for a good long while. All of the events I’ve taken part in have been great, but my urge to retreat to my studio nest is growing stronger by the minute. Fortunately my next event happens to be a super fun one happening at one of my favorite spots in Vancouver.

ART SEA

The last couple of days have had me running around the city tracking down frames and display easels for a Saturday night show at the Vancouver Aquarium. It’s going to be off the hook! (Sorry. Couldn’t resist the bad pun!)

I’m super excited to be part of Art SEA 2009 with an amazing location, great company and 25% of all proceeds going to an awesome charity – Arts Umbrella. It’s going to be a blast and if you’re a local, you can grab your tickets from Club Zone now or get them at the door.

But with 217 craft shows coming up over the next 2 months (OK…maybe it’s more like 8, but still!) I’m kind of missing just painting. You know, painting for the sake of painting without a holiday or particular show in mind. I miss pushing the paint around and letting one of my characters emerge. We’re getting lonely here and the gang definitely needs some fresh blood.

January, you’re looking mighty fine.

I’m very pleased to announce the latest addition to the shop – bookplates! With ROBOTS on them!!!

I’ve been playing with layouts for bookplates and researching printers for months now and I couldn’t be more tickled with these little guys now that they’re here. I played with digitally coloring in the robot or painting him in real life, then re-scanning, but ultimately I decided I really like the chicken scratch marks of my pencil sketch. I think it sweetly compliments his high tech nature. And his pudgy belly.

You can get your very own set of 8 bookplates, personalized with your name (if you wish), right here.

Of course, now I want to make a whole bunch more! All in good time.

I love the charming papercut art of Jayme McGowan so hard. His shop, Roadside Projects, is filled with whimsical 3D creations that make the paper doll loving 9 year old in me squeal with joy. His blog is fab too with behind the scenes peeks at his process of creating.

While I’d really love to buy (OK…receive) one of his originals, the prints are also gorgeous and very affordable.

The Ring of Fire

With Christmas coming up soon, I’m starting to craft a gift giving plan. I like to make my own gifts as much as I can, partly because it’s a very expensive time of year and partly because it seems more meaningful when I give something not store bought or factory produced. Of course, this idea can backfire.

Two years ago I decided I wanted to make quilts for my family. I’ve never sewn anything more than a straight line to make curtains, but for some reason I got it into my head that making not one, but TWO quilts, all in time for Christmas, was a good idea. And ultimately it *was* a good idea – my mom & my sister both love the quilts I sent them & they’re used regularly. The bad idea came in when I was up until 3 a.m. finishing the quilts so I could pop them in the mail by the post office deadline. What started as a gift made with love turned into a gift that was literally keeping me up at night.

This year, I’ll plan better. And buy some things made by other people’s hands, which kicks off my Handmade Holidays series of crafty finds:

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before my love of This American Life. I listen to the podcast while I’m painting and have downloaded several mp3s to take on long road trips. The stories are always interesting and the host (my secret boyfriend) is Ira Glass, the nerd girl’s Brad Pitt. My real life boyfriend took me to see the live re-broadcast in a movie theatre a while back & it was so great to put a face to the dreamy voice I’d been swooning over for years. And now? I can put a finger to it too!

The Ira Glass finger puppet by Abbey Christine is just one of her cute creations. Equally awesome – Lloyd Dobler, Johnny Cash & Bob Ross. So cute!

My little crafty factory has been chugging along quite nicely over the past few weeks getting prepped for all the craft markets I’ll be attending this season. I haven’t had time to properly photograph and write up all of my new wares, so not much  is listed in my Etsy shop just yet, but it’s coming. I swear!

First off…my new fancy schmancy jewelry:

I love ‘em. I’m probably not supposed to say that about my own stuff, but I really really love the way they turned out. It’s been a long time coming; I spent months sourcing good suppliers for raw brass lockets and cameos, learning how to age & patina the brass myself, learning how to (& how NOT to) seal the tiny paintings in resin. Phew! It was well worth it, methinks.

available in my Etsy shop

I still like my Scrabble tile pendants too – they’re light & cute & fun, but it’s nice to have a dressier option. I like to wear my own jewelry when I’m out at art functions so I can explain what it is I do more easily. I hate stammering about how, “I paint girls with a, um…storybook sort of feel?” Blank stare. Much easier to just say, “I paint cute portraits – like this!” Then point to my necklace.

One of the other new things I unveiled at my last market is prints on small wood blocks, then coated with a shiny varnish. I think I’d like to try covering them in resin too, since I’m all about the juicy shiny wet look right now. They’re so cute & perfect to just perch on a shelf or window ledge. I think they’d look great hung on the wall in a wonky arrangement too. Fun fun!

One strange question…what do you think the stand in the above pic is actually for? I picked it up at a thrift store (though I didn’t think it was particularly thrifty at $5.99, but whatever). How did people originally use this thing? Tea cup displays? Books? I’ve got no clue. The handle on top seems like it’s meant to be moved around, so probably not breakable treasures. I feel like my grandparents may have had something similar sitting beside my grandpa’s easy chair where he hung newspapers off the gold bars…but I could be remembering that completely wrong. Ideas and random guesses welcome!